A couple of weeks ago we went away for the night.
We met my dad halfway in Newbury in Berkshire, got some food and had a walk around the town with the dog before staying over in an Airbnb just the two of us.
These were all things that we could have done in Barry or Cardiff before heading back home, but what made it different was that we went away and didn’t take our laptops.
For some that might not seem like a big deal, but since I’ve been self employed I can’t remember a day that I didn’t go on my computer. Even while visiting Australia and New Zealand I was online every day (just in a different time zone)!
On the 2 hour car journey we had a tiny Facebook problem with one of the projects we’ve been working on, and for a moment we both thought ‘we really should have bought our laptops with us’.
But, we didn’t, and by trusting the rest of the team the problem was sorted without us needing to get involved and take on more work.
I’m still getting my head around the idea that putting your laptop down can actually get you one step ahead, rather than feeling like you’re always behind.
Leaving our laptops at home meant we didn’t fill the gaps of resting by ‘just checking emails for 5 minutes’ or looking something up. Those pockets of time quickly turn into hours when you aren’t keeping track of what you’re doing.
It meant I got to sit and read a magazine, have a bath and an early night without feeling like there was something more productive I could be doing.
The same often goes for social media. It’s constantly changing and we feel like if we don’t check it all the time we might miss out on something important, especially when there’s a global pandemic happening.
I love working in social media but I know I need to take some time to figure out how to make it work for me in my life, without constantly scrolling on Facebook and Instagram.
I work with the clients to take away the pressure they feel showing up online, but I haven’t quite done the same for me.
It’s always a work in progress, so if you’ve got any tips on how to switch off from social media let me know!
